Improvement in roller-skates



UNITED STATES.l

IMPROVEMENT IN R'OLLER-SKATES.

Specication forming part of Letters PatentANo.

153.94%,.datea August 11,1874; appnwtionnia- March, 3, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WASHINGTON PARKER GREGG, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roller- Skates g and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it p it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

In such drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of my improved skate, the peripheries of the side wheels or drivers being below the plane of the upper surface of thefoot-re'st. Fig.

2 is atransverse vertical section through the line w a: of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of another form of my improved skate, the upper parts of the peripheries of the side wheels or drivers being above the level of the plane of the upper surface ofthe foot-rest. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section in liney y of Fig. 3.

The same letter marks the same partwhereever it occurs.

In a patent issued December 23,1873, I secured a skate having side driving-wheels turning on axles projectinglaterallyfrom the foot-rest, the upper parts of the peripheries of said driving-wheels extending above the surface of the foot rest, and said skate being provided with heel and toe supporting rollers, so hung that a horizontal line, tangent to their bearing surfaces, should be in a plane a little above that of the bearing-surfaces of the driving-wheels.

My present improvement consists in suspending the axle of the side driving-wheels in brackets depending from the lower side ofthe foot-rest, so that the upper parts of the peripheries ofthe side driving-wheels may either extend above the plane of the surface of the footrest, or be level with, or below it, as may be preferred, by merely altering the depth of the bracket without any necessary alteration of the size of the drivers 5 the driving-wheels, in all the cases supposed, being outside ofthe perpendicularface of the sides of the foot-rest, and never underneath said rest, and the heel and toe supporting rollers so hung that the lower part of their peripheries shall be in a pertains to` make and use granted to me July 25, 1865, re-

plane a little higher than that of the lower part of the peripheries of the driving-wheels.

The drawings represent this invention in two forms, diii'eriug only in the depth of the pbrackets, the size of the driving-wheels, and the relation of the peripheries of the drivingwheels to the surface of the foot-rest.` l

In such drawings, Figs. 1 and 2` show the arrangement of the wheels and rollers in ac cordance with the rst fo m of my invention and Figs. 3 and 4 the "arrangement of the same in accordance with the second form thereof. V

The firstform of my invention maybe said to consist,` mainly, in arranging the-*outside driving-wheels so that the upper part of their peripheries shall be below the plane of the u'pper surface of the stock. In carrying out this part of my invention, I place two comparatively small rollers, A A', (one partially under the heel',) on an axle, a, and the other partially under the toe on an axle, b, ofthe stock or foot-rest B for support, and to facilitate turning; and I also arrange two larger wheels, C C', for driving and side support, uponthe journals c c of an axle, d, suspended in bracket B below the arch of the instep of the stock B, so that one ofthe said driving-wheels shall be at each side of the stock, on a plane outside of the perpendicular face thereof, the peripheries of said driving-wheels being below the plane of the upper surface of the stock.

In the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2, the upper parts of the peripheries of the driving-wheels are shown as extending nearly to the top of the stock, but they may be lower down, if preferred.

By these means is produced an outside wheel-skate which has no axle through its sto ck, or projecting laterally therefrom, nor any portion of the peripheries of its wheels above the plane of the upper surface of the stock, though the two driving-wheels are outside of the stock, and larger in diameter than the toe and heel rollers. Designed to be compact, and to run easily with speed and safety, its driving-wheels may beof any reasonable size; but, as the peripheries do not reach above the upper surface ofthe stock, on this and other accounts it is not proposed that they should be equal in diameter to the larger ones, to be used PATENT OEEIoE under the second form of my invention hereinafter mentioned.

This second form maybe said to consist, principally, in hanging the journals of the two outside driving-wheels on the bracket B2, so that the upper part of their peripheries shall extend above the plane ofthe upper surface ofthe stock, and said wheels be, at the same time, used with two smaller rollers, one under the toe, and the other under the heel, of the stock, thereby not only retaining most of the advantages of my said patented invention, but, by reason of dispensing with the axle through the stock, securing others important and peculiar to this second form of my improvements. To accomplish this, instead of using two driving-wheels, with their peripheries below the plane of the uppersurface of the stock, as set forth inthe first part of this specification, I put upon the journals e e of the axle D, suspended in bracket B2 below the arch of the instep of the stock B, two outside driving-wheels, G Gf, so large in diameter that the upper part of their peripheries will extend above the plane ofthe upper surface of the stock, said stock having two small rollers, A A', one on an axle, f, under the toe, andthe other on an axle, g, under the heel, to be used with said side wheels.

By these means either low or high journals may be employed, and thus the smallest and largest wheels or rollers suitable for rollerskates be brought into use. In a word, not

only can we employ as large outside drivingwheels as can be used to advantage, but larger toe and heel rollers can be used with the driving-wheels than could be employed in my. pre-I vious patent without unduly increasing the diameter and Weight of such drivin g wheels as therein shown, on account of their axles passing through the sides of the stock, thereby enabling different skaters to avail themselves of the dierences in these respects, according to their skill, age, strength, the state of the skating-surface, and other circumstances.

In the second, as in the first, form of these improvements, the bearingsurfaces of the driving-wheels are arranged to come down a little lower than those of the toe and heel. So

in both, the stocks or foot-rests, wheels, rollers, axles, journals, connections, and other parts may be made of any materials, size, or description consistent with my said improvements and their use for skating purposes, and may be fitted to the foot and -fastened in any convenient way or manner.

' What I claim is as follows A' roller-skate having the axles of the side driving-wheels suspended under the arch of the instep in brackets depending from the.

lower side of the stock or foot-rest, which is provided with heel and toe supporting rollers 

